Eclipse subwoofers bottoming out

I've got two 12" eclipse aluminum 88120.4 svc subwoofers running off a hifonics bxi2607d. Every time I turn them up I get a loud clacking noise from both of the drivers indicating that They are bottoming out. The two subs are rated at 500 rms but are known to take almost double of that. My amp pushes out about 2300 rms at 1 ohm which is probably a little too much for the two subs can handle. I have another 88120 svc sub so do you guys think adding another sub will stop the bottoming out by distributing the power more? The reason I'm not going ahead and testing it is because I first would need to build a box to hold the three Subs which is going to take time and money. Any help would be great.

Re: Eclipse subwoofers bottoming out

What kind of box do you have them in? Since they're 4ohm subs you're only getting a 2ohm load before rise(maybe 1.5ohms since Eclipse is known to have their coils read a little lower than normal, ohm wise). It sounds like you either need to cool o0ff on how hard you push them, since they obviously can't handle it in your current setup. Or get something else that'll be louder to satisfy your tastes(the other woofer can do this).

Re: Eclipse subwoofers bottoming out

You'll see cone damage/deformation before you bottom the coil on these drivers. The motor is deeper than the suspension will allow the coil travel rearward. It's likely that you're hearing hard clipping which can certainly sound the way you've described.

Originally Posted by audioholic

Saying "clipping doesn't kill speakers" is a half-truth at best. Technically no, clipping itself does not hurt the speaker. But in clipping your amp, you can easily create a situation that WILL kill the speaker. Was the squared waveform the DIRECT cause of the failure? No. In the end, the answer is, always has been, and can only be... heat kills speakers. BUT, clipping increases heat generation, sometimes by a drastic amount. So to start a thread simply to state that clipping does not hurt speakers is, again, a half-truth at best.

Re: Eclipse subwoofers bottoming out

Originally Posted by ciaonzo

You'll see cone damage/deformation before you bottom the coil on these drivers. The motor is deeper than the suspension will allow the coil travel rearward. It's likely that you're hearing hard clipping which can certainly sound the way you've described.

Re: Eclipse subwoofers bottoming out

Here is the specs:

Fs: 28hz
Qts: .29
DCR 3.1 ohm
Vas: 2.68 cuft
Xmax (one way) 1.17"

Right now there are in a prefab ported box. There is a board down the middle separating the two subs so each sub has its own port. My guess is that each sub is getting no more then 1.25 cubic feet each.

Ill try and set my gains properly to see if that fixes the issue. Ive never heard a sub clip like this before, ill try and take a vid and post it so you guys can see if its clipping or the subs bottoming out.

BTW, if the Hifonics amp isn't that great, there is a Orion 2500d on craigslist going for $200. Would that amp be better to power the 3 eclipse subs? or should i just keep the Hifonics bxi2607d? i've decided to build a box for the 3 eclipse subwoofers.

Re: Eclipse subwoofers bottoming out

Those subs are more oriented towards sound quality, and don't necessarily need a ton of power. Their suspensions aren't overly stiff and you should be careful with your gains. The cones are kinda sensitive and you can deform them by bottoming out/overexcursion. Multiple ones could help you solve your problem. Nice sounding drivers tho.

perhaps you should look into more SPL oriented drivers if that is your main goal.

Re: Eclipse subwoofers bottoming out

Originally Posted by l7runner

Those subs are more oriented towards sound quality, and don't necessarily need a ton of power. Their suspensions aren't overly stiff and you should be careful with your gains. The cones are kinda sensitive and you can deform them by bottoming out/overexcursion. Multiple ones could help you solve your problem. Nice sounding drivers tho.

perhaps you should look into more SPL oriented drivers if that is your main goal.

Yeah i had 2 PBX XS-12 subwoofers which i believe are pretty loud SPL subwoofers. Those things were LOUD but they just didn't have the sq like the eclipse subs. I hardly play my subs at full tilt, but i do like having the potential to play them loud when showing my system to my friends.

Re: Eclipse subwoofers bottoming out

Build yourself a real ported box and ditch that prefab crap. And grab that Orion amp fast! Hell of a deal right there, about half the price you can find them for on here. Use that and build yourself a proper box for those three subs and you'll be much happier in my opinion.

Re: Eclipse subwoofers bottoming out

Originally Posted by RAM_Designs

Build yourself a real ported box and ditch that prefab crap.

Ive got a Honda civic and because i'm only running a front stage Ive got the two 6 inch holes in the back rear deck for the speakers open. Would building a box with round ports going through those 6 inch holes into the cabin be a bad design? I ask this because the woofers would be firing on a horizontal axis and the ports would be on vertical axis. This is probably a question for the box design section.